When the Dust Settles: Removing Blight, But Spreading Toxins

Eilís O’Neill of The Nationreports on the potentially devastating environmental consequences of blight removal. Older homes being demolished will often contain lead-based paint that when released into the atmosphere can be inhaled and absorbed into the bloodstream of children nearby. Studies have shown the harmful impacts of elevated lead in the bloodstream of infants, including " learning disabilities, speech delays, hearing loss, lowered IQ, and increased hyperactivity and aggression."

In cities, such as Detroit, where removal of older homes is an ongoing process, children in the vicinity of the demolition are now showing elevated blood-lead levels.

...in 2016, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, the city’s blood-lead levels spiked. While this unsettling uptick coincided with increased testing of vulnerable populations, some critics say the sharp increase can’t be attributable to testing alone, and that the city is removing lead with one hand while adding it back with another.

For these critics, the blame for the spike lies with a federally funded “blight removal” program that is perhaps the biggest housing-demolition program in history.

O'Neill reports that currently there are three demolition strategies in use: the dry method which is the quickest and easiest, but tends to kick up the most dust; the wet-wet protocol, which includes wetting the house during the demolition process to keep most of the dust contained to within 350 feet of the site; and the newer Baltimore protocol, which covers the house in plastic and keeps the house wet with multiple hoses throughout the demo process. The Baltimore protocol has been shown to limit dust exposure to approximately within 60 feet of the demo site.